“Don’t Look Back” is a slightly more lesbian “Single White Female”

There have been so many instances in film and TV that include this basic premise: Girl meets girl, girl becomes girl’s best friend, girl ruins girl’s life. Sometimes that story includes some sexual connection or manipulation, and that’s exactly what happens in Don’t Look Back (written and directed by William Dickerson). Lucy Griffiths (True Blood) stars as children’s book writer Nora, whose grandma passes away and leaves her her home in sleepy Idlewild, California. There she meets Peyton (Cassidy Freeman), who is looking for a place to stay and happens upon Nora’s home, convincing her she would be a great roommate. A beautiful photographer who seems friendly enough, Nora trusts Peyton enough to say OK.

It doesn’t take long for Peyton to insert herself into Nora’s life, including a strong interest in Nora’s male friend, a cop named Jack. But one day, Peyton goes to kiss Nora while they’re talking closely in their bathroom. Nora leaves the situation, and Peyton is confused. Later that evening, Nora goes to apologize, saying she’s never been with a woman before. “I haven’t either,” Peyton says. “I was just feeling the moment.” Then she kisses Nora, and this time, Nora doesn’t resist.

That night, though, Peyton brings home a male date and Nora sees them having sex in the laundry room. Peyton locks eyes with Nora, and later comes up to her bedroom saying she was hoping Nora would join them. Nora pretends to be asleep.

In the vein of Single White Female, The Roommate, High Tension and Notes on a Scandal, Don’t Look Back is a story about one woman who obsesses over another to the point where she tries to control ever facet of her life: Romantically, sexually, professionally and in relationships with everyone in her life, past or present. Peyton is willing to do anything for Nora, which is bad news for anyone who has hurt or mildly annoyed Nora, from a high school nemesis to her therapist.

Cassidy Freeman skillfully plays Peyton as a creepy bisexual obsessive that just wants to “be a part of [Nora’s] life, for the rest of her life,” but the film is too cliche for it to be truly worth watching. It’s predictable in every sense, up through it’s Black Swan-esque ending, and the fleeting moments of the women’s flirtation are few compared to their drawn out sex scenes with men.